In the 2014 movie Paddington, based on the popular books about Paddington Bear, the titular character is aiming to find an explorer from the the fictitious British Geographer’s Guild, who offered his home should the bear ever make his way to England. In trying to locate him, they are rebuffed by an archive, and then break in to access information.

Record retrieval is automated

In the film, record retrieval is automated, by a robotic arm that grabs the rolled up records, stored in tubes, and shoots them through pneumatic tubes to the front desk.

Fiction! If only it was that easy. Ladders and arms are still the primary retrieval system.

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One comment on “A Great Story As Education”

Janet Wencer

March 30, 2016

As a former archivist, it was very amusing to read the debunking of the Paddington adventure. Sadly, lots of people don’t understand the difference between a library (meant to be very user friendly) and an archives (meant to protect and preserve records while allowing appropriate access).